Pink Floyd’s Pig Is Up for Auction

UPDATED 8/28/15: The pig is no longer on the auction block. Artist Rob Harries says he plans to return it to the band. An auction-house official told ABC News Radio that "Pink Floyd came back and said that they wanted to have him back and rehome him. ... I think after the huge amount of publicity that has been generated, the band thought that Algie should go back to them."

Searching for that last little decorative touch that will set your house apart from everything else in the neighborhood? You may want to bid on the giant inflatable pig created for the cover photo of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals.

The BBC reports that the pig is part of a 30-year collection of work being sold off by Air Artists, the firm responsible for creating it and a host of other rock memorabilia — including pieces used by the Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden and AC/DC.

"I'm sad to see them go but they very rarely see the light of day and so I would be quite happy for someone else to take them for a walk," explained artist Rob Harries. "The clear-out has been quite cathartic and brought back a lot of memories, but I do feel I've been there and done that now, and it's time to move on."

Floyd fans will no doubt recall the fuss created by the pig during its initial flight, which went awry when it broke free from its moorings and ended up grounding flights out of Heathrow before finally landing in a farmer's field and, in his words, "scaring my cows to death."

Things went more smoothly in 2011, when the pig flew again as part of a publicity stunt planned around a series of Floyd remasters, but now that the power station depicted on the Animals cover is being converted into a luxury housing complex, that particular part of the British skyline is off limits, and the next person to send the pig aloft might as well be you. For more information, keep an eye on the Durrants auction site.